Barking and Dagenham Council has invested in three new state-of-the-art electronic road sweepers to continue its aim to improve the quality of air in the borough.

The council has been using this type of rechargeable sweepers to sweep the borough’s streets for three years.

These electric sweepers have many benefits, including:

• Being environmentally friendly and not polluting the air
• They’re able to work for 14 hours between charges
• When operating, they don’t produce any noise, which means they can be used in the early hours of the morning, if needed
• The batteries are also fully recyclable.

We want to do everything we can to make sure that the people who live, work and visit the borough breathe in healthier air.

Using these electric sweepers also means the council can save a huge amount of money on running costs – charging one sweeper costs around the same as running a domestic fridge freezer overnight.

Councillor Kashif Haroon, Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Climate Change, said: “Like the rest of London, we know we have an issue with air quality in Barking and Dagenham, and we want to do everything we can to make sure that the people who live, work and visit the borough breathe in healthier air.

“Look out for our new electric road sweepers, which will be working hard to keep our streets as clean and tidy as possible.”

In 2020, the council declared a climate emergence outlining its ambitious plans to become carbon neutral by 2030. Residents can find out more about the plans to make this happen on the council website.